Marseille airport closed as high winds fan wildfire in southern France
LES PENNES-MIRABEAU, FRANCE, JUL 8 – The wildfire near Les Pennes-Mirabeau has burned over 350 hectares and forced Marseille Provence Airport to close, disrupting flights and stranding tourists, officials said.
- On Tuesday, July 8, just before midday, a wildfire ignited in the Marseille Forest in southern France and quickly expanded to cover approximately 350 hectares.
- The fire spread quickly due to strong mistral winds, reaching up to 70 kilometres per hour, after a 16-day heatwave that officially ended on the preceding Friday.
- Authorities closed Marseille Provence airport and the A9 autoroute to Spain temporarily while more than 1,000 firefighters battled flames overnight, with six homes partially affected.
- Local official Christian Pouget reported that the blaze remains uncontrolled, while residents described heavy smoke, falling ash, and some homes already catching fire in parts of Marseille.
- The ongoing blaze amid heatwave conditions signals a continued high risk of fires, prompting evacuation orders and public warnings to avoid outdoor activities and emergency route obstruction.
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They have been accommodated, among other places, in secondary schools that have been made available to accommodate victims.
The traffic from Marseille-Provence airport had been suspended since mid-day to "let the planes and helicopters bombarders d ́eau work".

France wildfire shuts down Marseille airport, halts trains
A wildfire in southern France on Tuesday forced Marseille airport to close and interrupted train traffic as the blaze spread rapidly to the edges of the city.


'Apocalyptic' blazes force Marseilles airport to SHUT as residents evacuated
Huge blazes have forced Marseilles International Airport to shut down as France braces to tackle raging wildfires.Plumes of acrid smoke billowed into
720 firefighters are operating on the front line with 220 vehicles, helicopters and aircraft, while two residential complexes have already been evacuated - 9 firefighters with smoke inhalation
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